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Saturday, 24 May 2014

Sorting Out My Diet

One thing that has been bothering me for quite some time is the way I eat.

Food and I have had a strange relationship throughout my life. I know what choices I should make, but I never seem to be able to stick with those choices. I've realised lots of things about myself since I've been living on my own, and have recently made a concerted effort to try to eat better, but food still consumes my thoughts.

Things were obviously easier when I lived at home. Mutti would cook every night, and even prepare my lunches for me for work (I know, spoiled or what). But, now I'm on my own, I lack motivation.

Part of the problem is that I have absolutely no enthusiasm for cooking. None at all. And cooking for one? Pretty much the most boring and depressing thing. I don't enjoy it, I don't like the time it takes and the mess it leaves.

I'm not remotely overweight, so that's not a problem. I suppose, in the grand scheme of things, that I actually eat fairly well. I don't drink coffee or fizzy drinks (US translation: soda). I don't drink a lot of alcohol, I don't eat crisps (US translation: chips), or a whole load of chocolate or cake. In the UK, we don't have the same culture of eating out; I go to a restaurant less than once a month. Let me take you through a typical day:

Breakfast:
A bowl of Alpen with semi-skimmed milk

Snack:
Cereal bar

Lunch:
Sandwich on seeded or granary bread... usually cheese and pickle.
Yogurt
At least one piece of fruit, sometimes two or three (grapes, banana, blueberries, strawberries, tomatoes)
Sometimes something else if I don't have enough fruit, such as a piece of Soreen, a pack of oatcakes or a hot cross bun. Occasionally a chocolate biscuit.

And usually at work I will have at least two cups of tea, and a litre of squash. To be honest there is very little variation in this part of my diet.

The problem, is dinner.

I don't really like mentioning work on this blog as I try to remain fairly anonymous, but I have a job that keeps me reasonably active (a lot of walking, some heavy lifting) and when I get home I am TIRED. And then I usually have a lot of paperwork to do in the evenings. I don't have the time or inclination to cook for a long time, so my dinners are usually one of the following:

7 comments:

I totally get tour problem, I'm training to climb Kilimanjaro so I'm training 3 or 4 nights a week after a full days work, but need to eat well. So I try to be prepared, buy things that are quick to prepare but healthy like pasta, grains like quinoa, or grilled vegetables (I'm vegetarian so you could add chicken). I also try to prepare as much as I can in advance for example weds is a rest day but Thursday I won't be home until gone 9pm most nights so on weds I make a nice dinner and try to prep for thurs as well, by pre chopping veg or even freezing a portion of a meal so I can reheat it another day.

I know it's hard, and I fall into the trap of pizza, chips or take away sometimes but nobody has the perfect diet!

do you have a slow cooker? you could put in the fixings for a meal and let it cook all day - you would come home to a meal that is ready to eat? I like my slow cooker to make soups, stews and chilis.I also try to cook something big on sunday, which will last me the week.

I also am a fan of meal prep - cut up veggies and fruit on Sunday so they are easy to grab and go during the week. Putting together a salad is so much faster when my peppers, carrots, cucumbers, beets, etc are all chopped. I love to make big meals and eat leftovers so I only have to cook a few times a week. Smoothies are good when I feel like I'm lacking produce - I throw a bunch of fruit and some greens into the blender and voila! I have a yummy drink full of vitamins and minerals. One of my goals is to post more recipes but usually when I am cooking I forget to take pictures halfway through and I get annoyed and don't want to post the recipe with only half the pictures I intended to include.